Your daily coffee fix might feel wholly necessary on a Monday morning, but did you know those wake-me-up beans could be doing wonders for your skin? Coffee is often used in cosmetic products as a secret weapon for brightening up tired, dull skin (just like it brightens up our tired, dull morning commute). Caffeine is also known to reducing redness and inflammation, which makes it a perfect ingredient in our DIY face mask.
For our mask we mixed ground coffee with Bentonite clay (also called Healing Clay - sounds good right?), which is basically the new buzz product in the health/beauty world. Known for its detox purposes, you can use this stuff for a multitude of beauty DIYs. Peeps are even drinking the clay for a full on anti-toxin hit, and raving about its benefits.
We think we’ll just stick to applying the clay externally for now, though. When the clay is combined with water and left to dry, it clings to bacteria and toxins on the skin’s surface, extracting these from pores as you rinse the mask away. We are seriously addicted.
You'll need:
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1 clean jam jar. This acts as a perfect vessel, so save them up as they come in useful.
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6 tablespoons Bentonite clay
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3 1/2 tablespoons ground coffee
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4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
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1-2 tablespoons water
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(Optional) A few coffee beans for decoration
How to:
In the jar mix the clay, coffee and vinegar and stir. You should get a paste consistency, if your mixture is too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of water. You want to achieve a mask that is thick, but spreadable.
To use
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Apply to the face with your fingers in a gentle, circular motion. Make sure to avoid the delicate skin of the under eyes.
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Allow the mask to harden for 5-10 minutes whilst you have a cuppa/check Instagram.
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The coffee has a slight rough texture, so as you rinse the mask off, you have a bonus exfoliator!
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Gently pat your face dry with a towel
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To avoid dry skin, lightly moisturize after use.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.